Linka Karensky (The Wrecking Crew)
Linka Karensky, is the current lover of evil, Count Massimo Contini (Nigel Green), in the 1969 Matt Helm spy film, “The Wrecking Crew”. Linka is played by the statuesque German blonde bombshell, Elke Sommer. Linka and her lover, Count Contini have successfully stolen a billion dollars in U.S. gold bars from a train to England through Denmark during Operation Rainbow. This could potentially collapse the world’s financial markets, and it is up to Helm, a super spy agent for ICE (international Counter Espionage) to locate the gold and dispose of Contini. Helm is aided in Copenhagen, Denmark by the clumsy British agent, Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate). The gold has been transported to Count Contini’s chateau where it is stacked wall to wall in a room, and then painted to make it look like a typical brick wall design. Linka and Count Contini are notified of Helm’s entrance into Copenhagen by Yu-Rang (Nancy Kwan) who continues to watch his every move. Linka watches Helm check into his hotel, and then make contact with Lola Medina (Tina Louise) in the lobby. He is invited to meet Lola at her apartment later that night. Lola is the ex-lover of Count Contini. Later that night, Linka keeps an eye on Helm as he drives to Lola’s apartment. Links booby-traps a Scotch bottle in the apartment to kill both Lola and Helm, but the explosion kills only Lola, which she is not entirely upset over. Helm and Freya go to Contini’s chateau masquerading as photographers. Here Helm is formally introduced to Linka as Contini’s fiancé. It becomes apparent on the visit that Contini is on to Helm’s true identity. He offers to buy Helm off with two million dollars in cash if he will skirt his responsibilities to ICE and go to South America instead. Helm refuses, so Contini threatens to kill him. Matt uses his camera, which gives off a smoke that fills the room. He and Freya leave the room and the thugs to cough it out. While exiting the house they find a dazed Linka who is suffering from smoke inhalation. Helm stops to comfort her. Freya jealously looks on as Helm hugs it out with the gorgeous lady. As he later abandons Linka, Freya decides she can take no more. She aggressively pushes poor Linka into the indoor swimming pool. Linka is wearing a white pants suit, and is caught off guard from the catty behavior from Freya. Helm asks Freya, “What made you think she could swim?”. Freya answers back, “That was only way to find out, right?” As they walk away, Linka reaches the edge of the pool and curses at Freya. Helm and Freya are pursued by Yu-Rang and other Contini hired hands who attempt to run them off the road. After Helm avoids being captured and killed by Yu-Rang, Linka is informed that she will have the opportunity to dispose of Helm herself. After dropping off Freya he heads back to his apartment where he finds Yu-Rang in his hotel suite. She tries to seduce him and is interrupted from her attempt to kill him with a dagger, when Freya interrupts the encounter. Linka later calls and invites Helm to her lodge. Linka is wearing a long sparkly cream colored evening gown with open back when Helm arrives. Helm finds a hidden pistol in the couch, that Linka plans to kill him with. Linka attempts to partner up with Helm telling him she wants to get away from Contini’s control. Links seduces him on the bed and the two begin to make out. This meeting was interrupted by Freya honking on the horn outside. Helm left Karensky with the promise that she had a deal, and that she should call him. Linka later calls Helm to meet him at the restaurant/club, The House of 7 Joys. However, he declines to meet her their, and changes the location to the nativity scene, an outside locale. Linka is wearing white pants and a yellow double breasted top with white gloves. She is wearing her hair in a pony tail. Despite this change of plans, Helm arrives at the House of 7 Joys and meets Yu-Rang in the rotating booth. Here Linka meets Helm and scolds him for not keeping his rendezvous with her. She has captured MacDonald (John Larch), Helm’s boss. She attempts to leave the club after depositing Helm and MacDonald in the rotating booth together. The cat like behavior continued when Linka noticed Freya wearing a wig and sitting at the bar. Linka made the comment, “My dear, you must be terribly dedicated to your work to wear an atrocious wig like that”. Freya responded, “How very common of you to mention it”. As Linka walks away with her thugs in toe, Freya knocks out the bartender and from the cover of the bar, opens fire on Linka and her henchmen with a pistol. Linka pulls out her own gun from her purse and shoots MacDonald, wounding him. Helm knocks out the thugs and as Linka aims at Freya, he knocks her gun away and throws her into the revolving booth with one of the knocked out thugs. The booth closes up, spins around and then reopens. This booth was intended to take care of Helm, and when Yu-Rang pushes a button, a secret panel opens up revealing her and the henchmen behind a wall. They open up with machine guns on what they expected was Helm, but instead they kill Linka. Contini turned to Yu-Rang in disbelief, and his only response is, “How very unfortunate”. Trivia *The Wrecking Crew was the fourth and final movie in the Matt Helm spy series. A fifth movie entitled “The Ravagers” was in the planning stage, but many factors including the untimely death of Sharon Tate, led to the decision to not pursue that venue. *Elke Sommer appeared as the female assassin, Irma Eckman in the 1967 film, "Deadlier Than The Male", in which she played alongside Sylva Koscina as Penelope, again with Nigel Green as the archvillain. Gallery 1jjy2z.gif Screenshot_46925.jpg Screenshot_46926.jpg Screenshot_46927.jpg Screenshot_46928.jpg Screenshot_46929.jpg Screenshot_46941.jpg ElkeCig.jpg Screenshot_46930.jpg Elke_Sommer_pool.gif Elke_Sommer_pool3.gif Elke_Sommer_pool2.gif Screenshot_46931.jpg Screenshot_46932.jpg Screenshot_46933.jpg Screenshot_46934.jpg Screenshot_46935.jpg Screenshot_46936.jpg Screenshot_46942.jpg Screenshot_46937.jpg Screenshot_46938.jpg Screenshot_46940.jpg Elke_WRECKINGCREW.jpg Screenshot_46939.jpg Elke_TateWRECKINGCREW.jpg Category:1960s Category:Attempted Murder Category:Beehive Hairstyle Category:Blonde Category:Demise: Shot Category:Greedy Category:High Heels Category:Humiliated Category:Killed By Ally Category:Live Action Villainess Category:Long Skirts & Dresses Category:Low Cut Top Category:Murderer Category:Nail Polish Category:Open Side Dress Category:Pistol Category:Ponytail Hairstyle Category:Stockings or Nylons Category:Villain's Lover Category:Wetlook Category:Fate: Deceased Category:Accidental Demise